Change
by OliviaLuvsLambs
Summary: Mihari feels comfortable in her disguise as a boy, but when she meets some new friends, will she be forced to reveal her secret? She knows the choices she makes will affect her life forever. She will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter to her most... but will her choice mean that she will have to let the other person go?
1. Start!

**A/N**

**OK hi guys! I've just decided to write this story because I just thought of it right now and I cant risk forgetting it! This is the very first ever story I have written so please review and give me tips on how I can improve! Thanks so much! ^-^**

* * *

I looked down at my callused palms, hard from all the work mother had put me to. I felt the comfortable fitting of my gloves as I slipped them onto my hands, clenching my fists. Arcing my back and stretching my arms up behind me, I let a moan escape me as I yawned. I looked in the mirror and smacked my cheeks a few times to put some color into them and fully wake myself up. I stood up and opened the door into the small room I shared with my brother. He sat on his bed, attempting to spike up his jet-black hair. He was wearing one of his best sweaters and shorts. Feeling uneasy, I looked down at my used, baggy jean shorts and loose fading T-shirt. Maybe I should put more effort into looking nice… But then again, it was just the Hunter Exams, and it wasn't like we were even going to get past the first stage. I ran back into our bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My dyed blond hair was cropped short and my bangs were pinned up and hidden under the oversized cap I was wearing. Nervous green eyes stared back at me through the mirror. I noticed my hair was getting a bit too long to pass for a boy cut. I'd have to talk to mother about that so she could fix it up for me. I remembered the first time mother had told me what I had to do and what I had to become for it…

* * *

_***Flashback***_

_"Mihari!" mother called me over._

_I could tell she was trying to mask the sadness in her tone with a cheerful smile, but I could see through it. My brother, (Aito), and I had caught mother crying a few days ago, and he had clenched his jaw, and told me he wasn't working hard enough. I knew sweet words and comfort wouldn't make any difference to him. I hadn't seen him at all after that. He had been working day and night, trying to console mother into believing we had more money for food, but it only seemed to sadden her more. I had asked countless times before if I could start working with Aito to make money for the family, (after all, I was already eight years old and he was only three and a half years older than me), but mother had always refused, saying that just because father had left us didn't mean she couldn't support the house on her own. Also, she always said that it wasn't proper for women to work, especially in our town. Our entire town had shunned mother after father left, and she started working. Our family was considered a disgrace to the entire town. Women were looked down on in our town. I was pretty sure, even at that age; that women's rights were no longer a problem in the outside world. But our town, isolated as it was, had never really accepted a lot of things, including women._

_"Yeah!" I said, pulling myself out of my thoughts and mirroring mother's cheerful tone as I ran over to her. She placed her warm, strong hands on my shoulders, tucking away strands of my red hair that had strayed from my ponytail._

_"Mihari, would you like to help your brother and I in earning food and money for the family?"_

_"Really mother?" I asked her, excitement building up inside me, "If you really mean it, then yes! I really want to help you and Aito, because I feel like I'm the only one not doing anything around here! And also, you've never let me go into town before so I would love to make new friends and see everything in the town, and experience the wind in my face, and-"_

_"Yes, yes, Mihari, we'll be getting to that later… but first…" mother hesitated, biting her lip and looking down. Confusion clouded my face as I watched her. Mother's flame-like red hair was pulled back into a loose bun at the base of her neck. Her green eyes were identical to mine. I got my looks, stubborn personality, and petite frame all from her. I only wish I could have gotten some of the courage she had, too._

_"Here," she said as she pulled out a boyish looking cap from behind her. "Mihari, you have to wear this at all times, and from now on you won't be wearing dresses anymore."_

_My slow mind finally began to understand what mother was saying. I looked down for a moment, as an unexpected smile formed on my face._

_"It's just like a make over right, mother?" I asked her, pulling her through my room and into my small bathroom. We both barely crammed into there._

_"Mihari, are you sure you want-"_

_"Of course, mother," I interrupted her in what I hoped was a brave voice. "I'll do anything to help out you and Aito."_

* * *

_Mother smiled and pulled me into a short hug. "OK Mihari, I feel like we need to change your hair color, too, just to make it more believable that you aren't who you used to be. It'll help you through it too. We can go shopping in the market later if you want, or you could just wear Aito's, old clothes, if you're okay with that. Don't worry; you can sti-"_

"MIHARI!" I jumped a bit as Aito rudely pulled me out of my flashback moment. He burst into the bathroom, an excited smirk on his pale face.

"Come on! Mother's going to walk us to the port so we can leave," he said as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.

Mother was patiently waiting outside, and I could see that in this moment, she looked truly proud and happy for once in a long, long time.


	2. So Many People!

I looked behind me as I boarded the ship and smiled at mother. She was quickly wiping some stray tears away. I watched in scorn at how the people around her regarded her, almost as if she wasn't there, often stopping to whisper a few remarks about her clothing, hair, accessories, etc. I secretly stuck my tongue out at them all.

We had to wait a couple of hours for the ship to arrive, even though this ship was meant only for the people taking the exam, it had been delayed in the harsh waters surrounding our small island. Several people including Aito and I were attending from our small island.

As I looked around the ship I noticed most of examinees were men, just as mother had said. I obviously still wore my disguise. I had become so used to it after wearing it for four years that I just didn't feel comfortable without. Even though I knew the real world was different, I couldn't help but shy away from society.

I giggled silently as Aito stuck out his chest in an attempt to look more intimidating. Unlike me, Aito was confident in himself and made friends really easily. He had a crowd of people surrounding him at our departure, but I had only mother and I was happy with just her.

Everyone kept looking our way and snickering, whispering to each other. I instinctively averted my eyes and moved closer to Aito. We sat down in a corner and I took out my sketchbook.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Aito rolling his eyes at me. He didn't have any hobbies and found me annoying when I drew, because it was a waste of time to him. He stood up and brushed his shirt and pants off.

Turning to me, he said, "I'm gonna go talk to people and get a feel for the exam. Some of the old-timers might have helpful tips. You should go and make some friends."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, flipping open my sketchbook. I had it for two years already, but it felt like my entire life was stored in the small book.

I smiled as I flipped through the book. The first picture was one of our small garden, including all the animals that cluttered it. Rabbits, gophers, squirrels, etc. Bunnies were just my favourite. They were soooo cute!

I never got bored of looking through my pictures and reminiscing about them all and how it felt to draw them. Just as I turned to a blank page to draw something new, I saw a pair of feet stop in front of me. Judging by this person's shoes, they weren't exactly rich, but they were better off than our family. They probably weren't from our island, as the shoes were made of leather, something that was rarely shipped into town.

I looked up in a spilt second, and saw a chubby man with tanned skin, a large nose, and caterpillar eyebrows looking down at me.

"Hello, my name is Tonpa," he grinned, "You don't seem much like the talking type, but want to know something about the Hunter Exam?"

"Umm sureee…." I said and watched him sit next to me cautiously.

Too close.

I inched away slowly, hoping he didn't notice. He didn't seem to, he was too busy telling me about how me had taken the exam thirty-something times, (I wasn't really paying attention). He continued to blabber on and on nonchalantly about the exam, occasionally looking at me to see my reaction.

I spotted Aito across the room talking a couple of people, and decided to join him.

"Excuse me," I muttered to Tonpa and stood up, shoving my sketchbook back into my bag.

"Hey," I said to Aito and the small group that had gathered around him.

He grinned at me, probably glad that I had decided to come out of my emo corner. "Everyone, this is my kid brother Michi," he said, pointing at me ridiculously. Everyone stared straight at me, their eyes scraping up and down my body. I felt heat spread across my face starting at the bridge of my nose. Gaaaaaaah why must I be like this..? _How_ _embarrassing…_

"Ummm…. Hi…. Guuuuuuys…." I tended to draw out my words a lot when I was confused or embarrassed.

"So why are you guys taking the exam?" One of the men asked, (I suspected he was part of the ship's crew). Aito excused me from giving an answer.

"For the money. We're really poor back home, that's al there is to it, really." He said, putting his arms behind his head.

The others all started telling each other about their reasons to join, which were all pretty cliché, (_It was my mother's final wish, it was all I ever wanted to do, etc.)_

I eventually got bored and wondered off to explore the ship. I walked into a room labeled 'Captain's Quarter' and found a young man with a HUGE moustache steering the ship.

"Well hello there," he said politely without turning around.

I walked up to him slowly and stared out to the sea.

"Hey," I replied.

I guess he sensed that all I wanted to do was stare at the ocean, so he kept silent as I did so, for which I was grateful. After about ten minutes I asked him,

"Are we there yet?"

He chuckled heartily at my childish question.

"Almost," he replied, adding, "Need something to do? You could help around the ship."

"Sure," I said, " I'm really good at cleaning anyway."

He called one of his crewmembers in to take me away.

I sighed and leaned against a wall. I had been cleaning ship windows, mopping wood floors, and dusting cluttered shelves for at least two hours. I pushed the hair out of my face and out of the corner of my eye, saw something that made me do a double take.

A really tall man was looking, (staring), at me bluntly, (creepily).

His attire was really strange, consisting of mostly white clothing, and his face had painted on teardrop and star on it. He had red hair with magenta streaks in it, and it was gelled up into a wavy style. I guess he was trying to look like a jester or clown. What creeped me out about him the most was his _eyes. _First of all, they were _yellow, _(who has yellow eyes!?), secondly, he had this look that said 'I know something you don't _want_ me to know'. His eyes on me made me shiver. He smiled at me, showing his teeth, (wow, they were _really _white!), and opened his eyes a little wider. I immediately felt like something was crawling up my back. I felt a tremor go from my head to my toes as I turned around and speed-walked into the other direction, searching for Aito. This was definitely one of the weirdest experiences I had ever had….

Finally, _finally, _we were at the building where the Hunter Exam would be happening. It was so confusing to get here, (although I let Aito do all the map-reading and clue-solving). It was quite a disappointment how rundown the building looked.

"Aito, are you sure this is the right place? What if we walk in and no one's there? What if it's a trap?" I fretted, voicing my worries to no end.

"Shut up Mihari!" Aito said, "I'm the one who got us here! Have some faith in me!

"I find it hard…" I muttered. Aito was never to be trusted. When we were little, we used to play hide and seek. Countless times, Aito had gotten distracted and forgotten to find me, leaving me waiting in my hiding place for hours at a time!  
One time, I hid in a closet, and Aito didn't find me, (I didn't come out because I was afraid he would mock me for sucking at the game.) Yes, I was a dull child. After a couple of hours, I passed out. Mother said later that if I had been found in a mere hour after she actually found me, I could have _died. _So much for having faith.

I saw Aito eying a yet another girl and I elbowed him in the ribs, frowning.

Wow, the girls in this city seemed to have no shame! They were all walking around in the _tightest _fitting clothes, and I swear instead of shorts, some of them were wearing underwear. Aito seemed to enjoy this very much though, the little pervert.

The amount of people I had seen was ridiculous. I didn't even have time to glance at everyone's face..! And yet… no one seemed to care what I was doing, and no one looked at me or Aito strange… It was a nice change from our city in which everyone needed to analyze your every detail with a freakin' microscope.

After Aito had expertly told the man at the counter a code he had managed to discern, we were led into an elevator. I had a feeling this was it. The Hunter Exam. As we went down, I felt nervousness, excitement, shyness, and all these feeling building up inside me, making me feel like a hot mess. I took deep breaths, looking at Aito, who seemed perfectly calm. How did he do that..?

The door opened and I gasped. There were so many people! All of them managed to get here? Wow… I started to feel congested and strange. I barely noticed as a man hand me a tag, which I unconsciously shoved into my pocket. I was starting to feel light headed, and I followed Aito.

Everyone

Was

Staring.

What had I done? Wh-whyyyyyy were they staring?

My foot got caught on something, and I looked down just in time to see I tripped over my own feet.

"WAGA!" I said rather ungracefully as I fell flat on my face.

**A/N  
Hello readers! Sorry if this chapter was a bit boring, but I tried to add parts of Mihari's personality in here. She notices really weird things about people, she is really socially awkward, and she relies on Aito A LOT. **

**I tried to make this chapter long, because it's exam week where I'm at, so I most likely will not post for the next week or so. (GOTTA STUDY)**

**Please review and tell me what I can fix! Review! Review! (If you want more!)**

**Thanks you for the follows/favorites!**

**BYEEEE!**

**-Olives**


	3. New Friends!

_**Previously**_

_My foot got caught on something, and I looked down just in time to see I tripped over my own feet._

_"WAGA!" I said rather ungracefully as I fell flat on my face._

_xXx_

Wonderful. Just great. Now I was stuck on the ground, face red in embarrassment.

I lay there for a moment, waiting for Aito to offer me his hand to help me up. He didn't.

Slowly, I got on my hands and knees, and then stood up. There weren't as many people as I had initially thought. There were probably around fifty.

I scanned the room, looking for Aito, as he was no longer in front of me. No one was really looking at me anymore; most people were just standing around nonchalantly doing nothing. A pair of eyes caught mine, and I looked into them for a split second.

They were yellow.

The jester looking man smiled at me creepily, _again_. I looked away, breaking eye contact immediately. What a creep. My eyes flicked to his tag. Number 44, I mentally noted.

I remembered my own tag and reached into my pocket, touching the cold smoothness of it. I pulled it out and looked at it. Number 31.

I craned my neck to see what Aito's tag number was, before I realized he was probably number 30, since he went in right before me.

I spotted Aito near the side of the large room, with already a few people talking to him, that Tonpa man being one of them. I decided to let him be, I didn't want to be in the presence of strangers anyway. I just wanted to be alone and absorb everything.

I slowly shifted to other the side of the room, trying to stay away from everyone. I clutched my bag tightly in my hand, knuckles white. I really had no idea why I was so nervous. It was probably just my mind reacting to all the change I had been exposed to so suddenly.

I sat down and took out my sketchbook once again, flipping through the pages. I came to a blank one and drew most of what I had seen so far. The buildings, the streets and markets, Tonpa, and even the jester man.

Eventually, I started getting tired, and I looked up. My eyes widened as I realized how many people had slowly trickled in the room without me noticing. There were now probably like five hundred people in the room!

Still, most of them seemed to be middle-aged men. A few people stood out a bit more than others. Like-

"Hey, you must be thirsty," I looked up to see Tonpa smiling down at me. Tag number 16. "Michi, wasn't it?" I suddenly didn't recall telling him my name before. Aito probably told him.

"Here," he said, grinning and handing me a can. I took it and looked down at it. It seemed to be some kind of juice. They didn't really ship this stuff into our town, and we never had enough money to afford extra things like this anyway.

I took the can gratefully. "Thanks, Tonpa-san," I said, giving him my best smile. I thought I saw a flash of something that looked like regret in his eyes, but it was gone as fast as it had come.

He gave me a wide grin before walking away to another group of people. It took me a few moments to figure out how to maneuver the can to open it, but eventually it popped open. I raised it to my lips.

Again, I glanced around for Aito.

Someone was staring at me.

It was a young boy, probably around my age, with _white _hair and pretty blue eyes. Actually, now that I thought about it, his hair was more silver, and there was something thing unnerving about his eyes. It wasn't exactly a bad feeling, just… strange. Did he dye his hair to get that colour? I couldn't pry my eyes away from his.

He finally furrowed his eyebrows a bit. I quickly looked away. Great, now he probably thought I was challenging him or something. Should I go and talk to him?

I brought the can to my lips once again, suddenly needing to take my mind off the boy.

"MICHI!" a voice startled me coming from my left side. I dropped the drink. All over myself. Aito jogged over to me.

"What are you doing?" I looked at him, utterly confused. He sighed, "I can't ever take my eyes off you, can I?" At this point, a few people near us looked over to see what the commotion was.

"Aito, what-" I interrupted him, feeling a bit angry. The drink had spilt all over me, and now I felt all gross and sticky.

"Don't drink stuff strangers give you!" he chastised me. "Besides, didn't you notice something off about Tonpa? There's obviously something wrong with that drink," he frowned.

"Tonpa-san seemed nice to me," I shrugged, standing up.

"You're too naïve," Aito said, crushing the can underneath his foot.

"Oh?" I said, smirking, "And since when have you become so wise? I'm pretty sure-"

Aito looked at something behind me and smiled. I turned around to see what it was. Or rather, who it was.

I found myself staring at a blonde boy probably around Aito's age (tag number 403), a middle-aged man with dark hair and glasses (tag number 404), and a young boy that looked around my age with black hair (tag number 405). He was smiled at me brightly.

"Guys, this is by little brother, Michi," he said. I gave the three my best people-smile.

"I'm Gon!" the younger boy introduced himself, "This is Leorio and Kurapika."

"Nice to meet you," I said, looking at the blonde boy.

"The pleasure is mine," he said, smiling politely.

Aito went off to talk to him and Leorio, but Gon stayed behind and grinned at me. I was shocked at his sudden enthusiasm. I hadn't even done anything…

"How old are you, Michi-san? I'm twelve!"

"Just Michi is fine. And I'm twelve too." I replied.

I suddenly noticed he was holding something… A fishing pole? Why? Those were only for catching fish….

"Why do you need that?" I asked him curiously.

"I'm really good at using one, and I can do a lot of cool tricks, too. I figured it would help me," he said. I watched as he swung the pole up, and the string swirled around to his will, making designs and patterns.

"Wow! I only know how to fish with one," I laughed.

"I could teach you, if you want."

"Okay, that would be great," I replied, fond of his generosity.

"I hope we can become good friends! Have you met anyone else here?" he asked, staring at me curiously.

The way he looked at me was strange. It didn't matter if I was a boy, a girl, his age, or any of that. He just looked at me like I was his equal. It felt… nice. Definitely different, but nice. I was probably overthinking. He seemed so simple minded… Was he just trying to trick me?

I pushed away my troubled thoughts and answered him, "No, not really. I'm pretty shy, so…"

The more I talked to him, the more I felt at ease. It felt strange before, but I now felt compelled to talk to him, and it was entertaining. It hadn't really been like this before, and it made me want to talk to him more and more.

"Gon!" I looked over to see Leorio calling Gon over. He smiled at me once more and headed over to him.

I was disappointed that I no longer had anyone to talk to, but regardless, I sat down. I had been awake for hours now probably, and I was starting to feel a bit tired. I rested my head against the wall and dozed off.

xXx

"-the time. It's no surprise, he's always slacking off."

I jolted awake, the memory of the dream I was having fading away. I tried to grab back onto it, it seemed so important. Only wisps of it stuck in my memory. Something about a toad… turtle?

"He's drooling, too," Aito said wearily, looking down at me.

I quickly wiped my mouth, (I was actually drooling), and rubbed at my eyes, still feeling tired.

"What'd you wake me up for," I grumbled. I was a sound sleeper; I have no idea how someone talking managed to wake me up.

"We're starting, hurry up," Aito said, holding out his hand. I took it and got up, stumbling a bit. I noticed Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon were also there.

The four of them started running, and I jogged after them, still dazed. To my surprise, Gon slowed down to match my slow speed and jogged next to me. He smiled at me warmly, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"All we have to do is follow that man!" Gon exclaimed enthusiastically.

I nodded.

"Come on, I'll race you!" he said, running through people towards the man leading us.

"Hey, no fair!" I laughed and joined him, swiftly dodging people and eventually catching up to him.

"You're pretty good at this," I said, increasing my speed.

He laughed, "You too!"

I was really good at avoiding people and moving through them as if I wasn't there. That had been my job back in town. I was a busboy and all I did was run back and forth through town, also doing random errands for people to make some quick cash. Unlike Aito, I didn't have a steady job or anything; I just got paid for what I did and how well I did it.

Finally, when Gon and I were near the front of the cluster of people, we regrouped.

"Hey Michi," he grinned, "Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

"You were watching me sleep?" I looked at him incredulously.

"Yeah," he said, continuing, "You just kept saying random stuff about swimming in the ocean, and mermaids, and you kept going on and on about turtles."

"I love turtles," I smiled, remembering. "When I was little, the turtles would lay their eggs on the beach, and the whole town would come and watch the baby turtles when they hatched."

"Wow! That must have been cool. I'm from an island, too!"

"Hey Gon," I said, suddenly curious, "Why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"Well," he replied, "My dad left me when I was little to go become a Hunter, so I want to know what's so great about it! I'm going to find my dad!"

He had this look of pure determination on his face that I admired greatly. He wasn't afraid to show his true motives. I found myself smiling at him, without even noticing.

I heard a rolling sound and saw the silver-haired boy pass us riding a skateboard. In our town only the _"cool kids"_ with wealthy families had those.

I was about to tell Gon that it wasn't fair that that boy was allowed to ride on one and not run like the rest of us, but Leorio took the words right out of my mouth.

"HEY, WAIT UP KID!" he yelled from behind me. He was sweating and breathing heavily, clearly tired.

The kid turned around to look at him nonchalantly, "Hmm?"

"YOU SHOULD SHOW THE HUNTER EXAM SOME RESPECT!" Leorio went on, clearly angry at the boy's carelessness.

"What you mean?" he asked, not bothered at all.

"WHY ARE YOU USING THAT SKATEBOARD? THAT'S CHEATING!"

"Why?"

"THIS IN AN ENDURANCE TEST!" Leorio growled, really angry at this point.

"No it's not," Gon piped up from beside me. Everyone turned to look at him.

"HUH?" Leorio scoffed, "What are you saying, Gon?!"

"The examiner only told us to follow him," he pointed out.

"WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON, EH?" Leorio frowned.

The silver-haired boy rode up to Gon and me.

"Hey. How old are you?" he asked.

"I'm twelve," Gon replied.

"Hmm," he said, considering Gon's answer.

He suddenly jumped off his skateboard expertly and caught it in his arms.

Heh, what a show-off, I frowned.

"Wow!" Gon exclaimed, impressed, "That was cool!"

"I'm Killua," he said. I was starting to feel a bit left out at this point. I looked around for Aito and Kurapika.

"I'm Gon, and this is Michi!" said Gon, finally including me.

"Oh, it's you," Killua said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The kid who was about to drink the soda. Idiot."

"Hey!"

"And then you started giving me weird looks…"

"Well," I started, fully prepared to defend myself. "I was only-"

I jumped and turned around when I heard a loud scream. A short chubby man sat on his knees, clutching his head. Three men and Tonpa were leaving him behind, smirking. I saw Tonpa hand one of them some money.

I sighed, "Wow, there _is_ something up with Tonpa."

Aito was right, I guess. I was really bad at judging people for who they really were, it seemed.

I noticed Leorio falling behind and stopped, looking behind myself uncertainly. Should I go help him?

He dropped his briefcase and stood with his hands on his knees, panting. I started to walk towards him, worried.

"Hey, forget him," Killua said, looking at me, then Gon, "Let's get going."

I looked between the Leorio, Killua, and Gon. Leorio was in really bad shape…

"Screw that," he muttered. I stopped in my tracks.

"I'M GONNA BECOME A HUNTER!" he yelled, sprinting ahead at full speed, "DAMN IT ALL!"

He sped past me, and then Killua and Gon, a literal cloud of dust trailing behind me. I didn't think that was possible…

I laughed at his determination and caught up to the two boys.

Gon swung his pole back and grabbed Leorio's forgotten briefcase.

"Cool!" Killua exclaimed, "Lemme try that later!"

"I have to teach Michi first," he grinned, "But if you let me use your skateboard, you can try after!"

My heart fluttered in happiness for no particular reason. This is what friends were like… I had made my first real friends! The Hunter Exam was turning out to be way more fun than I had expected.

xXx

**A/N**

**Oooookay! I haven't updated in like a month! Hello, hello, everyone, I hope you liked this chapter. I promise more action and in the next chapter! **

**Was there too much dialogue in this chapter? REVIEWS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED. **

**I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a review; they give me motivation to continue the story. Whether it's a flaw, a compliment, or a suggestion you would like to report, all are welcome and will be considered! Even just saying what you think will happen next would be amazing! **

**Sorry for this boring note, have a great day! XOXOXOX**

**-Olives**


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